Webs We Weave
by TreonGuy
Summary: Following the events of "Spiderman: Homecoming", Peter has a lot of explaining to do. Not to mention a city to keep safe and a secret to protect. Eventually leads up to the events of "Avengers: Infinity War".
1. Chapter 1

Peter POV

" _You see Penis, that's how the world works. The big people stay on top of the little people. And when you have an opportunity to move up, you take it! Like successfully tricking Liz into going to prom with you! And as if that wasn't bad enough, her Dad has been stealing from the Avengers and is in jail forever!" Flash leers down at me, looking slightly demented._

" _Well hey, at least Spider-Man used your car to catch him! You're part of the story Flash!" I smile sarcastically at him. I quickly see a flash of embarrassment across his face before he takes a step forward, and I back up into the locker behind me._

" _And that's why your life is hell here now. You're paying for your 'buddy's' mistake. My parents grounded me for a week and I can't drive the cars until Christmas! So get used to it Parker!" He snaps before shoving me, snapping my head back into the lockers and causing my visions to split for a brief second before focusing in again._

 _(Four Hours Later)_

"Queens Village" the generic male voice reads out as the next stop, sounding over the screeching of the car and general audio white noise.

 _That's me._

Pulling my backpack tighter over my shoulder, I slip in between two people and under a woman's elbow as she adjusts her purse before waiting behind the scrum and emerge out on the platform and pull out my phone, only to type out 'Platform' and send the message then slip it back into my pocket.

 _Looks as normal as ever. No obvious signs of criminal activity or unruliness._

A black sedan drives right thru the crosswalk as the blaring red hands warns pedestrians not to walk.

" _Hey Pedro."_

I glance up at the streetlight a few feet to my right and count to five before I look forward.

 _Don't Pete. No. Don't…think about it._

Today it's 46 degrees outside. Cloudy, like it has been the last three days. But there's going to be a break over the weekend, with highs in the high fifties and sunny skies.

 _No. No Eugene, don't think about that, or her. You have to get home. You're in Queens, webhead. Not on the West Coast._

A stray elbow catches me in the side, bringing me back to reality as the crowd around me is crossing the street. Quickly, I jump in shock, then dart into the safety of the crowd and cross before breaking off towards the building, inside the cool glass doors and hit the lift.

"Hi." I politely nod to Ms. Evans as she and her daughter exit, likely on their way to her gymnastics class before I hit my floor and close my eyes.

 _Relax. You stayed after for Decathlon practice. Normal day. An old school, normal day. Ned was with me the whole time until I hopped on the train._

The lift chimes, I walk out, fish my keys out of my pocket and unlock the door out of habit.

 _It's already unlocked, she's home._

I use the key to push open the door with one hand before yanking one headphone out of my ear in time to see May in the kitchen, knife in her hand eying me. "You didn't text me back."

"You texted back?" I pull on my keys while pulling out my other earphone and close the door with my foot.

"Mhmm." May nods, returning to chopping her peppers.

"Sorry." I apologize. "I didn't feel it vibrate."

"That's always what he says, and so it goes. Took you a little long to get home."

' _Sounds good. Train run late? You're behind schedule. Ned's already here.'_

I tuck my phone back into my pocket and smile. "Yeah, my train was late leaving school. Didn't mean to stress you out."

May's lip quirks up a bit. "You good? You sound distant? How'd Decathlon go?"

"It wasn't bad. Michelle is finally finding her footing as leader of the team."

"Yeah, she's finally letting everyone be normal and it's starting to be really fun." Ned chimes in from my doorway. "Welcome home."

"Thanks." I smile and try not to laugh.

"Well that's good. That whole situation was so wonky and strange with Liz and her father. Then they basically got exiled. You two go on and do whatever it is you do."

 _Eugene._

I shake my head and nod at May. "Sounds like a plan. Thank you May."

"You're very welcome Ned." May says happily as I walk past him and into my room, tossing my backpack onto my bed.

 _Now let's see what's up._

Ned cracks the door right behind me, then happily smiles at me. "You could have rode home with me. Mom wouldn't have minded. She likes you."

"Nah." I wave him off. "Didn't want to intrude. I needed some space. How are we doing today?"

"Great! Really good. Found out another web combination. Water webs."

"Water webs?" I ask, glancing at my new workbench that I found on the way to the dump. "The suit's electronic. Did you check it again the master code in the suit?"

"I did, and it's in there. With a lot of code to protect the suit against shorting out. I think it's only possible because your web shooters are a separate mechanism."

"An outside apparatus." I nod, flipping thru Ned's notes.

 _Special chemical combination sucking the moisture from the air and adding it to my normal webs._

"Sounds good. Keep digging. That's 18 of the possible 576 combinations." I shrug, then plop onto my bed.

"Oh, and I think I figured out a way to access the AI in the suit."

"What?" I snap.

 _Really?!_

"I think?" Ned says cautiously like he does when he's not sure. "I just believe I've found it."

"Can you like, project it out? Like an aux cord or Bluetooth?"

Ned shrugs. "I don't know. I just found a huge dormant program with capabilities of connecting to all sorts of exterior sources."

"That's Karen. See if you can hook it up to my speakers. I'll add the new web to the list." I smile, then reach over and grab the red notebook and flip open the blue tab on the side to the page titled "Web Shooter Combinations".

Web Grenade

Taser Web

Splitter Web

Rapid Fire

Ricochet Web

Single Fire

Double Fire

Triple Fire

Quadruple Fire

Reinforced Web

Foam Web

Web Shield

Web Wings

Web Net

"Delicate" Web

Recoil Web

Web Barrage

Water Web

 _Some of them are self-explanatory, some aren't. We have no clue what a "delicate" web is, and since May has my web shooters in her safe and I can't crack it and don't want to tear the door off, I can't exactly find out._

There's so much I don't know. Even though I do know that the "Training Wheels Protocol" is hardwired back into the suit so firmly that Ned can't access it. I think it's directly hardwired to Mr. Stark's personal AI that he uses for his suits.

 _I heard him talking to it back in Germany, but I don't know._

I really don't know.

" _How do you think your buddy Stark paid for that tower, or any of his little toys? Those people, Pete, those people up there, the rich and the powerful, they do whatever they want. Guys like us, like you and me... they don't care about us. We build their roads and we fight all their wars and everything. They don't care about us. We have to pick up after them. We have to eat their table scraps. That's how it is. I know you know what I'm talking about, Peter."_

There's been nothing from anybody on anything since Germany. Apparently some Sokovian Hit Squad member framed Captain America's friend, the one with the freaking metal arm.

 _I never asked if his actual arm is under there and it's like armor, or if it's like a prosthetic._

Anyway, he got framed. Cap and Mr. Stark and Black Widow and all of the Avengers fought each other in Germany. The real criminal is sitting in the same metal box they had Barnes in an no other explanation. The man hunt for Barnes has left the news cycle, same for Captain America, all of them. Even though the others are all in some super-secret prison that I overheard while the doctors tested me for a concussion before Mr. Stark threw me back onto his plane and back home.

"Got it. I think." Ned says confidently, before the familiar chime of Karen activating sounds thru my room.

"hello?" Karen asks, sounding…confused?

"Karen! It's me, Peter." I leap off my bed as Ned pumps his fist.

"YES! YES! I did it!"

"Peter? Who is that? Your suit is not active. How are you activating me? Am I at the Avengers new Compound in—"

"No!" I cut Karen off as Ned's eyebrows nearly fly off his head. "No, you're in my room at home. That's Ned, my friend. You know Ned, from school."

Ned looks to me, still looking stunned. "It's a person?"

"No. I'm an AI programmed by Mr. Stark to help Peter use his suit."

"That is SO cool! Your own personal AI! Nobody has that tech yet! Not Zuck, Not Elon Musk, not what's his name in Cupertino or a Chinese genius. You're beyond cutting edge!" Ned rants while pacing around the room.

"It's not mine. It's Mr. Stark's." I frown at Ned.

"No, I'm yours Peter. Your commands can only be overwritten by Mr. Stark. But I am yours." Karen corrects me.

 _Oh._

"Okay. Uhm, cool. Well we were just trying to figure out how to connect you—"

"To an external set of speakers. Shall I integrate this new location into your settings? Maybe set a preference?"

"Yeah!" I nod. "Set it as 'Home'." before Ned lets out a squeal.

"I don't understand that form of human communication. But 'Home' is now a preference."

Suddenly my door flies open and bangs into the protective doorstop, revealing May holding a bat. "Who in the HELL IS TALKING? I KNOW IT'S SOMEBODY PETER!"

"Whoa!" I leap towards May as Ned cowers near my laundry basket.

"Who is that?" Karen asks.

"Reveal yourself you witch! Where is she? I said no unannounced guests you lying little—."

"It's an AI! Artificial Intelligence." I cut off May and grab the bat by the barrel.

May rolls her eyes at me. "She better be hot."

"It's not a girl. It's not a physical person." I explain, then gently pull on the bat.

"Don't you dare Peter Parker. Let my bat go. I'm stronger than you. And tell me the truth this time."

I frown at Aunt May. "I can stop a bus with my bare hands. And I'm not lying! Karen!"

"Hi. I apologize for startling you. Peter, who is this? Are they friendly?"

"Excuse me?!" May exclaims in fury, taking a couple of strong steps before looking around. "I don't get it, where the hell is it? And I don't want to know how you can stop a bus!"

"It's the suit." Ned says quietly, pointing to how the lighting cable from my Bluetooth adaptor is plugged in.

May cautiously approaches my workbench, then tilts her head. "You're not bullshitting me? It's…what is it?"

"I am a natural-language user interface created by Tony Stark and installed in the Spider-Man Suit, designed to work alongside and aid Peter in his crime-fighting duties provided that he completed the Training Wheels Protocol. Peter has named me Karen." Karen states plainly.

May scrunches her face up, then laughs. "Karen? Who is Karen? Your girlfriend? I thought the girl you took to Homecoming was Liz!"

"Oh yeah, Peter. Did you ever kiss her?" Karen chimes happily.

 _Oh jeez._

Ned laughs and turns into the notch near my closet as May looks slightly mortified but also on the verge of laughing. "I just came up with the name. And yeah, I took Liz to Homecoming, but it didn't work out."

"Because you ditched her to go crash a plane! May yells, pointing at my suit.

"Plane? One of the planes involved in moving Avengers Tower to the compound in—."

"KAREN!" I yell, causing May to jump and take the bat off her shoulder again.

"Do _not_ raise your voice in this house Peter." May scolds me.

I raise my hands in apology. "Sorry. Karen, this room isn't secure. Don't reveal the location of the compound unless I personally tell you to. Okay?"

"Okay Peter." Karen replies. "I'll make a preference."

"The Avengers have a compound?" Ned asks, ecstatic.

"Yeah, I've been there. It was alright." I shrug.

 _Very modern and high tech. Happy ushered me everywhere though, didn't get to explore._

"Wait a second, hold on. You said Stark made you…Karen." May says, tentatively saying her name.

"Yes. Who are you?"

"I'm Peter's aunt. Can you call Stark? Peter's been trying to call him from over two weeks and hasn't gotten a hold of him."

"I've been calling Happy, Karen." I correct May.

"Okay Peter's Aunt. And yes, I can call Happy and you can speak with him if you'd like." Karen complies.

"No, I want to talk to Stark personally. And my name's May. Make _that_ a preference, Karen suit lady." May commands her.

"Okay May. I'll set your name as May Parker, along with the contact in Peter's phone. And I'm afraid I have directive that prevent directly contacting Mr. Stark. He can call Peter though!"

"Of course he did. Damn blowhard. So you've been pulling these stunts thru his…assistant?" May turns to me.

"Happy's…I don't know what he is. And most of its on my own."

"That's not…better Peter!" May pulls at her hair.

"You sound stressed May. I assure you Peter's been as safe as possible. His safety probability has only dipped until 30% one time when—." Karen tells her before May lets out a scream.

"CALL HIM!"

"Calling Happy Hogan." Karen reports

I calmly lean around May and look to Ned, who looks sort of scared and hiding in the corner. "See why I was keeping this quiet?"

"Peter, you're lucky I didn't string you up by the balls." May points at me. "Now Stark on the other hand…"

"Hello?"

"Happy!" I leap toward my workbench. "It's Peter."

"This better be good. I'm in Malibu taking care of something for Tony and I can't really be wasting time. By the way, why haven't you been leaving me reports like you promised?" Happy says in his normal, hurried tone.

May gestures at the wall, then spins in a circle as I answer "That's why I'm calling Happy. I need to talk to Mr. Stark."

"He's off the grid, and you haven't been reporting in, so you're not talking to him anyway."

"I'm talking to him! Put him on the phone! May yells angrily.

"Who is yelling at me? I'm not staying on the line to get yelled at."

May takes a physical step back as I reach out to halt her anger. "My aunt, May. She found out. Happy, I have to talk to Mr. Stark. I'm grounded, I can barely leave the house for Decathlon practice."

"Grounded? It's a suit. Put it on and slip out the window kid. I didn't think I'd have to teach you how to sneak out. It's Teen 101." Happy responds.

"I have his wrist…things and the mask. He's not doing shit until I talk to Stark. Actually, I want him in person, he's answering for this shitshow. He's left Peter out to dry for two weeks! Called every day, multiple times! He's not doing that, he won't hang Peter out to dry like he's disposable."

"Oh. Okay. Well…uhm. I'll get ahold of him. He's been safe though Mrs. Parker."

"Oh cut _that_ out. He doesn't even have a direct line to the guy himself! He doesn't value Peter one bit!"

May's retort is met initially by silence. "Okay. Did you just find out just now? Or—?"

"Oh for the love of god, you don't even, get a clue. Karen, end call!" May gestures wildly. "That's your liaison? The clueless bodyguard type?"

"He's not totally clueless." I defend Happy.

May turns to Ned. "Have you met him?"

"No ma'am. Talked to him once at Homecoming. Hung up on me." Ned answers sadly.

"Yeah, I'm done with that guy." May shakes her head before jolting and sprinting out of the room. "CRAP!"

 _Uh oh._

"Your dinner." Ned looks to me just before May lets out a nasty expletive.

 _And now it's ruined. Great!_

"I've got to go. Mom'll be here soon, and dinner and all that." Ned looks to me sheepishly.

"You can stay Ned!" May calls out. "I'm just worried about Peter and want him to be safe and all that."

"No, I know. That's good. But I do kind of have to go."

I smile and move to start out handshake. "Thanks dude."

"You know it. Glad I got it right the first time." He smiles, then starts for the door.

"Peter? Incoming call from 'Happy Hogan'." Karen tells me.

"DENY!" May yells from the kitchen, before I glance in that direction and see smoke in the air and May disabling the smoke detector before it goes off. "Decline Call Karen!"

"Call ignored."

"Peter? Where do you want to go to dinner? I'm feeling that Italian place down the road on Eighteenth."

 _That sounds good._

"I'm fine with that!" I answer May before looking to my suit. "Karen, do I need to shut you off or what?"

"I can stay on, I'm not pulling any power I cannot stand to spare. I will need you to charge the suit at regular intervals like normal at some point though."

 _Alright._

"Cool. And look into Damage Control's finances while we're gone." I ask her.

"NO! That's not your business Peter!"

"Do it." I tell Karen.

"Will do Peter."

"Thanks Karen." I smile, then turn right into May's glare.

"You're not helping yourself young man, Grab your jacket."

I smile widely for her. "On it!"


	2. Redux

"News of Stark Industries breakthrough in regards to detecting Galactic and Tesseract energy sources before they arrive on Earth has shaken the global community, shining a spotlight back on the embattled Avengers, who appear to be in tatters after the events of Captain Steve Rogers' mutiny regarding Captain James Barnes, once framed for the murder of Wakandan King T'Chaka."

 _Yeah, leading to that guy in that black Vibranium suit at the airport fight._

Add that to the "I don't know list". That guy got hit with multiple bullets that would have turned me into Swiss cheese. Instead they bounced off like they did off Cap's shield.

 _Focus on something else Peter._

I shake my head, glance at the rag that I'm using to clean the grates in the living room with then hop off the wall and onto my feet.

 _Needs more cleaning solution. And I'm thirsty._

Grabbing the solution first, I pop off the lid and stop the bottle with my rag before snatching up my water and draining two thirds of it.

 _I wonder how Ned's coming on adapting Karen's interface into like an earpiece or something. I just need a more portable way to tap into it. I could use it for all sorts of stray ideas and thoughts that I've been having. I know they're good and useful, but my brain is just way too full right now._

 _What I wouldn't give for a night of normal senses, normal thoughts. It's starting to drive me crazy._

The sound of something glass breaking floats to my over-tuned ears thru the floors or walls before I hear Ms. Circles snaps "Dammit Ashley, you broke another glass?!"

"I was taking it out and it was still slippery!" She defends herself.

"It's still broken!"

"Sorry Mom! It was an accident!"

I sigh to myself, screw the lid back onto the bottle before shaking my head and mutter to myself. "Or you could be grateful Peter and learn to focus."

 _Instagram flagged a story by Liz as worthy of a notification, saying "Liz Toomes posted for the first time in while! See what their video says!"_

So naturally, I watched it. Liz had a picnic, taking advantage of the first decent weather she's really seen in Eugene. For somebody who loves sunlight, she must hate it there. The Pacific Northwest is nothing but 40's and cloudy. Not partially cloudy, just straight clouds six or seven days of the week in the fall and winter.

 _It's not even winter yet._

I'm surprised she didn't block me on there yet. It's probably that I never post, just look at stuff people post. My life's too boring to really post online. Nobody would look at it.

 _Spider-Man on the other hand, there's parody accounts. Stupid parody accounts, like the 'Emo Kylo Ren' account that started up after that new Star Wars movie that came out. I'm not constantly talking about webs or walking on walls for fun. I only do it when I have to._

 _Or, when I have to clean the house as part of keeping May sane._

Two footsteps, lose enough that it's obviously May sound out before they stop abruptly. "Oh that's going to take a lot of getting used to."

I lean back from the grate and turn to May, who is upside down.

 _Huh? Oh._

"My bad." I apologize before flipping off the wall and onto my feet. "It's getting clean, taking a little longer that I was hoping. I'll get the fans next."

May blinks twice before nodding. "Okay. You don't have to tonight. That'll be enough, the grates."

"But you said the whole kitchen, the dishes, the grates and the fans." I ask.

"I know, and the kitchen looks great. Just finish the grates. And one question."

I nod, getting back on the wall so I can get back to work. "Yeah?"

"None of this is weird? You're climbing on walls. I had to drop the blinds so the neighbors can't look in. You just back flipped _off the wall_ and landed it like it was nothing."

I shrug before starting to clean again. "All of it's weird. Nothing makes sense. But I'm just trying to focus and make the best of it. Nobody answers my questions anyway. Haven't so far at least."

"So what can you do? Since those wrist gauntlets are exterior, you can just walk on the walls like a spider, hence the name?" May asks, sounding curious.

"I don't know totally. It's kind of like my senses are dialed to eleven. Eyes, ears, everything. I'm stronger, faster, all of it. And it isn't stopping, so I don't know." I admit, scrubbing harder at the grate.

 _Darn thing won't get clean._

"Give me an example."

I point downward. "Ashley just broke a glass right below us. Her Mom yelled at her. I heard everything."

"Ashley, the girl two doors down?" May asks.

"Yup. And I don't really care to hear that right now, so I need to focus. It's not my business." I confirm, continuing to scrub.

"Peter, that's enough. Whatever is still on there must be rust or something. It's clean." May tells me, and I turn back.

"You sure? I think I can get it."

May pointed down at what must be her orientation. "Down. OH! That reminds me!"

"Of?" I ask, flipping off the wall again.

"Showoff." She grumbles while digging in the stack of mail she picked up today. You got something from Stark Industries. Seems that you can't get a call but you can get a bill."

"A bill? I'm broke! I—"

 _I get paid a little for the "Internship", but not a lot. Enough to get a bite to eat after school and some small tech upgrades._

May flicks her eyes at me before handing me the letter and a butter knife to open it. The letter complies easily, ripping open and I turn it upside down for a long, thin rectangular piece of paper to fall out with a small note attached.

"Figured you could maybe use this. Sorry it's late. My fault. Bumped it a little because of the ferry/ plane incidents. Don't get used to it. You earned it though. Call if you need anything. –TS"

 _Okay._

"Fifteen hundred bucks! For forty eight hours of work?! Now that's an Internship!" May exclaims, then shows me the check.

The air comes right out of my lungs. "How…much?"

 _$1587.27. That's $33 per hour of being Spider-Man. It's not even work, I love it._

"What am I going to even do with all this May?" I ask, then notice that she's reading the note. A scowl slowly forms on her face before she looks at me.

"You usually don't get this much?" She asks.

"No, usually it's a lot less. And every two weeks."

 _It took almost a month this time._

May sighs and tosses the opened envelope in the direction of the garbage. "Even his well-intentioned moves look like crap."

 _Yup. Yuck, my face._

I quickly wipe my face with my shirt, leaving it covered in sweat and dust from the ceiling.

 _Gross. Didn't think about that part. Maybe those grates were dirtier than I thought._

"Uhh…" May says blankly, eyes wide.

"Yeah?" I ask, wiping my hands off on the shirt.

 _Might make this a shirt I can't wear outside._

"When'd…that happen?" She asks awkwardly, twirling her hands in a circle.

"When'd what happen?"

 _I don't get it._

May's eyes bulge. "You've got a six-pack! You're shredded! You don't work out! Is that part of this?! Am I going to have to worry about you bringing girls over now too?!"

 _Did she just say shredded?_

I feel myself start blushing before I glance at the floor. "Yeah, that too. It's like puberty on steroids."

"That's not puberty. I need a drink or something…" She mutters before walking to the kitchen.

 _Damage Control has rumored to have taken control of over three trillion worth of tech from the Chitauri attack alone. Not to mention Sokovia, that D.C attack, the UN bombing, the Scarlet Witch bombing…_

 _Maybe Liz's dad was kind of right. Man, I have to stop thinking about this. All this was so much easier before May cooped me up and started letting me overthink everything._

I slump over the balcony railing and try to smile at the cool fall wind hitting me.

 _It kind of feels good. But I'm disgusting and sweaty right now, so…_

"I know that look. What's on your mind? You mad at me?" May asks behind me.

"No…not really. I get it. It's something else. You can't really help."

 _None of this makes sense._

May slides to my right and leans over the railing to look at me. "Maybe I can. Try me."

"I…" I start, then sigh and close my eyes. "Does anything ever actually like, make sense? Because I'm being hit with stuff so fast and it doesn't make sense to me."

"Like?" She asks me, prompting me to slump further and close my eyes. "C'mon. Tell me. Is it related to your…thing?"

I nod silently.

 _I hate that she won't even say it. She hates it that much._

"I won't tell anybody. What is it?"

 _If I can't trust May, then who can I trust? And maybe it'll get her a little more on my side. Maybe._

"The guy…the one everyone's calling 'The Vulture'. I had him in this warehouse." I start, then pause for her to freak out.

"Okay…" May nods, actually listening while swishing her wine around.

"He said some stuff. About Stark and the whole Damage Control thing. And it kind of makes sense."

May garbs my shoulder firmly. "No it doesn't. he wanted to steal stuff from that plane, like you said. You cannot trust the source Peter. Don't let him in your head. He's in prison now, don't let him live in your head. He was trying to fuck with your head."

"That's the problem!" I push off the railing and start pacing. "Damage Control has made billions of dollars for Stark's company just because of the attack here!" I point off to where Downtown is gleaming like a crown jewel. "He has a point!"

"And what does that mean for you? That you shouldn't help people! Hell no!" May shakes her head. "He was trying to break you, get in your head. Do not let him in Peter Parker. You understand me?"

 _What's that sound?_

I stop myself from pacing and strain to listen to the night before I involuntarily shiver. Immediately afterward, the sound of police sirens and a firehouse's bells going off reach my ears.

"Peter."

 _Uh oh._

Reflexively, I look out off the porch and try to spot the smoke or the glow of a fire.

"Peter? Hello?"

 _I can't do anything. May has my stuff._

I drop my head, then force a smile onto my face. "Yeah? Sorry, thought I heard fire trucks." I apologize.

May just looks at me, expression unreadable before she just walks away.

 _Uh oh. I made her mad again._

I sigh and slump back over the railing before I hear May again. "Here."

"Here what?"

"Here. Take it." May says, causing me to turn and—

 _My mask. And web shooters._

"Go help. And Karen better text me and say you're coming home soon." May says, a ghost of a smile on her face.

 _I…What? Really?_

I quickly snatch all three away from her, slip past her, run straight for my room and start throwing my suit on.

"Karen, find out exactly where those siren are coming from. We're on the move." I say, slipping my web shooters on as the HUD flashes in front of my eyes.

"Sure thing Peter. Are you not in trouble anymore?"

"Kind of. Not asking questions." I say before rushing out of my room and right back to the balcony where May's looking back to my room. "Thanks May! Be right back!" I yell before taking two big steps, planting on the railing and throwing myself off into the night before firing off a web.

"The sirens are coming from two streets down. It looks like from the police scanners that there's a fire in an apartment building." Karen informs me.

"Where's the building?" I ask, glancing up and heading in the general direction of the fire.

"212th and Hillside."

 _Ugh, that far away?_

I groan and try to pick up the pace while trying to find a train.

 _That'd make this faster. Nope, not running right now even though service ends in two hours. Perfect._

"What else are they saying about the fire?"

"It seems kind of small, just one floor. Fire and Police already on the scene but having trouble accessing one particular unit."

"Sounds like a problem for Spider-Man!" I smile to myself, landing a water storage tank with a web and catapulting myself high enough to get a good visual. "What kind of anti-fire stuff did Stark build into this Karen?"

"Water Webs and fire repellant fabric." Karen replies simply.

"That's it?!"

"That's more than those firefighters have."

"THEY'RE FIREFIGHTERS KAREN!"

 _This should be fun! Two blocks out!_

"They have axes and specialized equipment. I guess you're right Peter. But you have me!"

"Yeah, and that'll be a big help as I'm cooking in there."

"Am I detecting sarcasm in your voice?" She asks me.

"Detect? You're learning?" I ask, heart rate spiking for sure.

"I was built to adapt so that I can better assist your peter. Why is your heart rate rising rapidly?"

"Has Stark never seen Terminator?" I ask rhetorically. "The robot always wants to kill humans!"

"I don't want to kill you Peter. I like you. It's against my programming."

 _Well that's reassuring._

"We're here!" I smile, landing on the roof across the street.

 _Doesn't look too bad._

"Karen, scan for life."

"Scanning." She responds as the façade is bathed in emergency lights and barricades are being erected on both sides of the road. "Got one person and a dog. Same unit they cannot access. Hurry."

"On it! Highlight 'em!" I ask, just before Karen points them out.

 _Wrong side! Damn!_

I quickly adjust, firing out a secondary web, swinging out for the correct angle and crash thru the window, directly into the burning building, then stop drop and roll. "HELLO?!"

A scream rings out off to my left, along with the sound of firefighters beating on something. "I'm here to help!" I call out, then leap around a fallen beam and hustle down a hallway and into an open door, just for a boy to scream out, holding a dog.

"Hey! Hey. It's okay. I'm going to get you out." I crouch down as the flames slowly crawl further into the room, just past the door as opposed to the boy, who is in the furthest corner.

"You're…you're Spider-Man. You're real." He perks up, almost smiling.

"I'm real! Now c'mon. Let's get you guys out." I smile, then move to scoop them up.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?" A male voice asks behind me, and I whip around to see firefighters rushing into the room.

"Peter, this place is about to collapse. Get them out of there. I'm detecting structural failure being imminent."

"Water webs!" I tell her, then fire them past the firefighters to the door and halt the fire at the door. "I'm getting them out! You've gotta go, this place is gonna go!"

"Not until I get an explanation!"

"Rog! He's right! That's the spider thing! Questions later!"

"I've got them!" I snap, then move to scoop them up again.

 _BEAM!_

Out of nowhere, a wooden beam supporting the ceiling falls thru, and I reflexively stop it with my left hand before scooping up the boy and his dog in my right. "Get out!" I yell at the firefighters before I fire off a web out the window and throw us out of the burning building.

"AHHH!" The boy yells, causing his dog to bark before I land in the street in a three point stance.

 _Whew._

"Okay guys, this is your stop. Are you okay?" I ask, feeling both the boy and dog shake as I set them down gently.

"Ye—yeah. I guess." He stammers out.

"Good job Peter." Karen compliments me.

"What in the hell…freeze!" I hear a voice that sounds like a cop say.

I smile behind the mask. "And that's my cue to leave!"

"No, you're not doing any—HEY!"

"Bye!" I call out, already across the street and firing off my next web.

 _I should take the long way home, looping around in case anyone tries following me._

For the next minute, I purposely head in the wrong direction before ducking into the shadows and changing direction.

"Karen, text May. Tell her I'm okay and that I'm coming home."

"Sure thing Peter."


	3. Stark Industries

-"Last question." Michelle reads from her note card, then awkwardly looks up at us. "What is Barium Sulfate, its properties and chemical formula?"

Quickly, I slap Ned and I's bell. "The chemical formula is BaSO4. It is a white crystalline solid that is odorless and insoluble in water."

"Crystalline…" Flash says under his breath, continuing his mocking. Michelle ignores him, instead opting to give him the side eye.

"That is correct Peter. I'm out of questions." She smiles at everyone, then shrugs her shoulders. "Whaddya waitin' for? Get outta here. I'll see you guys on Monday!"

Ned pushes his chair out beside me as Abe, Cindy, Sally, Flash, Tiny, O'Reilly and Michelle all either stand up or start gathering their stuff. Outside the library window, the patter of rain continues constantly. "Hey, my Mom's outside and wants to take you home. You don't need to wait for the train in all this." Ned tells me, then points at the window.

 _I have a jacket, but not a rain jacket. May said it was going to rain, and I told her I had it in my bag. But I hid it in my closet instead of actually grabbing it. I didn't think it was going to pour like this._

"You sure she wouldn't mind?" I ask, trying not to smile at the offer. Ned smiles to himself, then types out something on his phone before turning it back to me so I can read it.

' _He wants to know if you mind taking him home.' – Ned_

' _Kidnap him. Don't let him get away this time.' – Momdre_

"Well I guess I'm being kidnapped." I smile, causing Ned to laugh. "Momdre?"

Ned quickly looks embarrassed and looks to his bag as he grabs it. "I used to call Mom that back when I took Spanish in elementary school. It's kind of stuck."

"Nice." I smile, then gesture for him to lead the way.

"Bye Ned, Peter." Michelle smiles at us and waves.

"Bye." Ned smiles, and I half salute our new fearless leader before letting Ned lead us all the way down to the main staircase where outside I can see Ned's mom in their tan sedan waiting for us. Ned and I time it so that we duck into the downpour at the same time, and into her car, Ned in the front and me in the back.

"Thank you." I instantly say and smile at Mrs. Leeds.

"Of course dear. We can't have you walking in this monsoon. Are you boys hungry?"

Ned replies "Starving." As I shrug.

"We've got stuff at home. Thank you though." I thank Mrs. Leeds as she pulls out into the restricted traffic.

"Delmar's is almost rebuilt, I know that's your favorite. The meat right?" She asks, glancing back into the rearview mirror.

"And the right amount of bread." I smile before Ned puts his phone in my face. "What's this?"

"Until Dawn! I found it online for a bargain, and it's amazing. The lead voice guy's named Brett Dalton, and his range is ridiculous. He can play the good guy, straight guy, bad guy, aliens, anything."

"Anything?" I ask skeptically.

Ned gives me a disappointed look. "I don't want to spoil."

 _Of course not._

"How's your internship Peter?" Mrs. Leeds asks. "Ned's told me it keeps you more than busy. You had to quit everything but Decathlon."

"Yeah, I'm trying to figure it all out. I like it though." I try to say offhandedly.

"He's never met Tony Stark though." Ned says, sounding disappointed.

Ned's mom shakes her head. "Of course not. He's one man, running a global corporations. Not to mention the Avengers. Interns don't matter to him I'm sure. He has to have results, then he'll look at you. That's how it is at the Port."

"Do they…" I start then trail off. "I don't know how to ask my question." Ned looks back to me as his mom looks back to me silently, waiting for me to sort it out. "It is all professional? Do they explain anything or is it just 'Do this and be happy I let you do it.'?"

Ned's expression turns to shock before his mom signals to move into the turning lane. "It's professional, but there's limits. There's professional courtesy, the amount of information you have to know to get your job done. Most times it's better to keep your head down and do as you're told I've learned. There's a proverb."

"The dumpling one?" Ned asks.

"No Ned." His mother chastises him. "The nail that sticks out gets hammered."

"Oh." I blurt out.

 _The more you mess around, the harder you get hit._

"What about the squeaky wheel gets the grease?" Ned asks.

"Replace the wheel for one that works." His mom answers easily. "Don't be trouble, and you'll get enough rope to hang yourself. Does that help Peter?"

I nod as she turns again and May and I's building comes into focus. "Yeah. I'm just trying to make it all work really."

"Time management really helps. How often a week is it?"

"Monday thru Friday." I answer as Ned nods to back me up.

His mom quickly winces. "You need to tone that down. You need to have fun. Maybe watch some TV or something streaming. You're too young to have basically a full time job. Enjoy your youth while you're young." She says wisely as she stops the car.

"Thanks for the advice." I smile at her as Ned reaches out for a fist bump, which I quickly return.

"Of course. Stay dry!" She tells me as I push the door open and dash towards the awning, only stopping to smile back at their car and for Ned and his mom to wave back at me.

 _Everybody has different advice. I've asked two people, was given advice by the third and all three have told me different things._

I pull my backpack closer to me and drop my head as the elevator rises before attempting to block out all the stray voices and noises that drift to me, as well as the draft from the tiny opening in the ceiling that lets air in from the musky elevator shaft that'll eventually become a problem because the elevator will stink.

The elevator dings and I slide right to the door and open it. "I'm home May!"

Aunt May looks away from the news on TV and smiles. "Hey! How was school?"

"Alright. Decathlon went well. Lot of chemistry questions."

She tilts her head as I set my backpack next to the foyer table and move to the fridge. "Is that good?"

"Yeah, I'm good at chemistry. Makes sense to me. Can I make something? I'm starved."

"Of course. Did your jacket help in all this? Weather's even worse than they forecasted."

I shake my head, moving towards the cabinets. "I don't know. Ned's mom made me let them drive me."

"That's nice of them." May answers as the TV suddenly goes silent and I set everything aside and grab the bread.

 _Ooh, she got a new loaf of the nine grain._

"Thanks for picking up more bread." I thank her.

"You're welcome. We're figuring this out." May smiles, barely a tone of regret in her voice.

 _Yeah, we are. Things are getting normal again, after the old normal. And the Ben 'normal'._

I glance over the island to her and see that she's rearranging the pillows on the couch before a wave hits me.

 _I think she's having a bad day._

"How was your day?" I smile, grabbing a knife and starting to put a sandwich together.

"Good. I got some chips I think you'll like. Sour cream and onion." May deflects, causing me to look and catch her looking uncomfortable.

"Who came by?" I put my hand on the counter.

 _Something happened. She's robotic, like she was watching the news to deflect like she used to right after Uncle Ben. Distractions._

May glances down. "It was a letter. Am I that easy to read now?"

"I just saw it." I confess with a shrug. "I won't push. I'm sorry."

Right away, May hops up and pulls me into a hug. "Love you. You know that?"

"Love you too."

"I'm so proud of you. Even though you stress me out and will give me early heart pressure." She jokes, a laugh in her voice before I push her away and shake my head.

"Not funny." I chuckle.

"You laughed."

"Only because you did first!" I defend myself. "Not fair."

 _There's a letter on the counter. A bunch of them._

May keeps on talking as I push myself to see the first couple of lines.

" _Dear Ms. Parker,_

 _As mentioned in our previous correspondence—"_

Multiple knocks at the door, in a familiar beat prompt me to glance up as May looks to me. "Is Ned coming over?"

"Tomorrow." I explain before she gets up to grab the door.

 _Those slimy lawyers better not becoming after what she's owed. They told us after everything that she'd be taken care of. That's the last thing she needs to worry about._

"Hi. Sorry about the delay. May we come in?" A familiar voice asks. I turn away from the letter to—

 _Stark._

"This is my…something, Pepper." Mr. Stark introduces a redheaded woman to May before he looks to me. "Hi Peter."

"Hi…" I say blankly.

 _How'd he…That's the CEO of Stark Industries. I've seen her online._

"I figured it was time you two met. Transparency and all that. I'm not very good at that, so…" Mr. Stark confesses, then moves awkwardly toward the coat rack.

May turns away from Mrs. Potts. "You know, bringing her isn't going to make me less mad?"

"It shouldn't. You should be mad." Mrs. Potts smiles, then waves at me. "Hi. You must be Peter."

"Yeah, hi." I nod, then slide step over to the mail and start putting it into the knickknack drawer.

 _They don't need to see any of this._

Stark obviously spots my movement and slides around the table. "Whatcha looking at? Making a sandwi—"

Instinctively, I flip my butter knife around and stab between where his fingers are barely grazing May's letter. "Stop."

Stark instantly freezes, looking at where my butter knife had penetrated the counter halfway up as the room has gone dead silent. "That's none of your business."

"I wasn't—"

"I don't care. Talk to May." I tell him, trying to leave no room for him to slither away in a word I leave hanging.

 _He's so good at that, bouncing from word to topic to right where you don't want him and right in his wheelhouse. So I'm trying to respond to force._

Stark takes the hint, slowly leaving the kitchen while giving me a look of confusion before breaking eye contact and asking "May we sit?"

 _We, like they're a thing. He was hitting on May last time he was here. Like everyone else._

"Sure. Would you like something to drink?" May politely asks, moving to the kitchen as I yank my knife up and wipe it off so I can finish making my sandwich.

"Dear?" Stark asks his CEO.

"Sure, water's fine. That'd be great, thank you." She smiles at May as May reassuringly rubs my back while grabbing out a pair of glasses.

Stark and Pepper exchange looks before Stark puts one hand on the back of the couch. "Hey Pete, have you, by chance been messing with the suit?"

"So that I know what I'm dealing with, yeah."

"With your buddy? The one who called Happy?"

I nod, smoothing out the mayo before moving to the fridge to grab some cold cuts. "Yeah."

"Well, that's one way to run thru the Training Wheels Protocol." Stark muses to himself before snapping multiple times, ending with his palm up holding a closed fist.

"The what?" May asks, grabbing everyone's drinks minus mine.

 _She knows I can grab my own._

"I made a training program for Peter. In the suit. Like training at work? But, in superhero form." Mr. Stark explains, taking May's drink.

May frowns slightly. "And you called it what again?"

"Training Wheels Protocol." Mrs. Potts smiles. "He thinks he's clever."

"I'm right here." Stark turns to her.

"Yeah, but you're in the doghouse. So…?" She trails off, then smiles at May.

May returns the smile. "Glad I'm not the only one that's mad."

"Tony has been trying to help Peter in his own way. But sometimes, things go a little off the rails." She explains.

 _I don't exactly help either. He called the FBI on the ferry. They had Liz's dad caught and I messed it up._

I set down the container of ham, slip into my room and activate Karen. "Karen."

"Hello Peter. How was school?"

Stark asks "Jocasta? Did you just call Jocasta Karen?" distantly from the living room and I ignore him.

"Karen, can you record the conversation in the living room?"

"Sure thing Peter." Karen says, prompting me to turn around, right into Mr. Stark.

"Record? Not necessary kid, but I like the idea. Jocasta—"

I raise my voice. "Karen, don't, no. Record and ignore him."

"Why are you calling her Karen? That's not her name." Stark grabs my shoulder.

"You didn't tell me her name. So I got tired of calling her suit-lady and came up with a name." I explain, then take his hand off my shoulder and stark back to the living room.

"Karen? That's what you came up with? She already had a name. Is he always this…snippy?" Stark asks May, still in the doorway to my room.

May shrugs. "Sometimes. He is a teenager with _super powers_."

 _Uh oh. Full on sarcasm._

"Tony gave me a full file on Peter. Have you seen it? Looks pretty extensive to me, powers, personality tests, the works."

"Like this!" Stark says, just before I sense a projectile flying at me and blindly stick my hand up and wait for it to hit my hand.

 _I got it…It should be here by—_

My old baseball flies right into my hand and sticks before I reflexively wraps my hand around it. I flip it to my right and flip it back to Stark, still standing in my room. "Please put it back." Stark meekly catches it and moves back to set it back on my desk.

 _Focus Peter_.

I let out a breath and zero in on my sandwich, half made.

 _I need the lettuce, pepper, a little mustard and the chips._

"Like I said, off the rails." Pepper says before I block everyone out.

 _One pepper grinder twist, Two pepper grinder twist…Mustard on top! Lettuce, bread and smush._

I softly press the whole sandwich together and grab the chips May bought while also grabbing a glass.

 _I can't mention what I've actually been doing while I've been grounded. So everything's fine. May's mad, and I'm following along in that._

"—Whole thing is on a tablet in my bag. Tony, grab my bag and the tablet.

I pour myself some lemonade and give myself a fair amount of chips before moving my plate to the island. "Karen, duplicate it for me."

The small icon, indicating that I've got a screen waiting for me. I open it, and am immediately greeted by my own face, smiling back at me.

 _My school ID. Peter Benjamin Parker._

Son of Mary and Richard Parker, who died in 2003 during—

 _A CIA op gone bad. Details are classified, and May won't let me look at the file until I'm 18._

Currently being raised by May Parker, formerly married to the now deceased Benjamin Parker.

 _Who died by gunshot wound that I should have been able to stop._

Angrily, I wave the screen away and take a bite of my sandwich.

 _My fault. My fault, my damn fault._

"—Pretty good school. The teachers there are good. We're trying." May tells Pepper with a smile.

"And you're doing an amazing job. This should help though. Catch kid." Stark says, then throws something metal at me, which I catch, only for it to hit me in the fingernail and for it to vibrate.

 _Ow…keys? Keycard?_

"What's all this?" I ask Mr. Stark.

"Keys. Keycard. To my labs, down in the city." He explains, kind of.

"Your labs?" I follow up.

Stark nods. "Stark Industries has a lab set up in downtown. Not centrally located, but it's on the island. Figured if you're 'interning' for me." Stark says, air quoting 'intern'. "You might as well actually work on some science stuff. You said last time I was here that everything had been dialed to eleven. Same thing happened to me with the ARC reactor. So when I did that, I found that tinkering helped."

 _Huh._

Behind him, Pepper is giving a slight frown before May smiles. "Oh. Well yeah, that sounds good."

"I think we've been pushing him a little too hard. I have, correction. Not you." Stark rambles, moving his hands all about. "He shouldn't be spider-ing every day. We don't want a schedule, because being off Tuesdays and Thursdays sounds like crime is going to spike on those days. Am I making sense?"

"Yeah." May nods. "His grades can't dip either. And no more skipping detention, leaving hotel rooms, any of that."

"I agree. Hero Complex is a real thing." Stark smiles at her.

Pepper gives Mr. Stark a side-eyed look. "Oh that's rich coming from you. Mr. Let's Invite a Super-Villain to my house on national television!"

"I learned my lesson." Stark smiles widely at her. "And I'm trying to pass it along. Like a torch. You see the torch?" He asks, gesturing between himself and I.

May shifts her position before sipping her drink. "Okay, I'm asking now. Why did you wait so long to come here?"

"I've been busy. Not much of an excuse, but that's why." Stark ducks his head.

Pepper nods. "He has been."

"With what? Your pet project has been in major trouble, saving your ass and your plane. You can't drop by a day or two afterward? I had to ground Peter and investigate myself!" May snaps.

"And you wouldn't have bought half of what I said, investigating anyway. I know, it seemed harsh, but I thought it was the best way. Pepper too, that's why she came with me. I'm…not good at…I don't know." Stark rambles, gesturing meaninglessly with his hands.

"Mentoring. Teaching." Pepper helps him out.

Stark snaps his fingers once and smiles. "I can't mess him up. Peter can mess up, will mess up. But I can't be the one to mess him up. I assigned Happy to handle him because I tend to break stuff."

"He really does. All of his AI's, he can micromanage." Pepper nods at May.

"Anything big, like the ferry, I can swing a big stick. It worked out in the end." Stark points at me. "Okay?"

"I screwed it up." I shake my head.

"Nobody died. Only property damage. And boo hoo, that helps the economy." Stark waves my concern down. "And to answer your final question…I can't really answer it very well other than to say I'm trying to knock on a particular door."

 _A particular door?_

"What does that even mean?" May fires back at him.

Stark frowns. " I can't—"

 _Oh. I know what it is._

"The energy detector. The one you just announced as an Avengers project, to prevent another wormhole from popping up that we don't know about." I say as fast as I can. Silencing everyone. "That's it."

 _That's a very particular door. Asgardian tech is strictly forbidden from getting out of Damage Control's hands. Loki messed up enough last time, and I barely remember it. May, Ben and I barely got out into traffic before it was all over._

Pepper and Stark just stare at me for a moment. "Did you—"

"No." Stark replies. "You're paying attention."

"Trying to." I reply.

"Don't forget to stay close to the ground." He quips.

I smile at him. "I'm grounded. Can't get much lower Mr. Stark. Do you really think that Loki's coming back?"

"I…" Stark's whole body freezes up. "I don't know. I'm just trying to stop it before anybody can get hurt."

 _He looks hurt. Like all this has taken a toll._

May and I quickly glance at each other.

 _Stark's human._


End file.
